Coming off a successful 2-0 road trip with wins over Northwestern and then-No. 23 Iowa, Indiana women’s basketball returned to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday to take on Illinois.
The Hoosiers trailed by as much as 15 points in the second quarter and pulled within 4 points in the fourth quarter but eventually fell to Illinois 54-68 in Bloomington.
Junior guard Yarden Garzon scored a quick 3-pointer in the first possession of the game, but the Fighting Illini responded with a 19-2 run. The run gave Illinois a 14-point lead in the first quarter, led by senior guard Adalia McKenzie, who scored 11 points on 5 of 5 shooting.
While the Indiana defense held Illinois to just 10 points in the second quarter, its offense continued to stall. The Hoosiers scored just 8 points and were unable to take advantage of their strong defense in the second quarter and headed to halftime down 13 points.
But the Hoosiers found a rhythm offensively coming out of halftime. Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish scored 9 points in the third quarter, which helped Indiana cut Illinois’ lead to 7 points with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Although the Hoosiers continued to show their resilience in the final quarter, their late efforts weren’t enough to overcome the Illini’s commanding lead throughout the contest.
Parrish, graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and junior guard Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers in scoring with 13 points each. Parrish and Moore-McNeil recorded seven and five rebounds, respectively.
Indiana (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) will now prepare to take on No.4 USC (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) at noon Sunday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The contest will be televised on NBC.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
